French aviation taxation
– Article by Luc Citrinot, Journalist, Voyages d’Affaires
Michel Barnier’s new government has come up with a way of reducing France’s abysmal deficit by mulling an increase in taxes on air transport. There’s hardly anything original about this idea, which often appears to be an easy way of getting money into the state coffers. Successive French governments failed to understand the stakes involved in over-taxing air transport, making it an expiatory victim in the name of the environment and social justice. In the minds of many politicians, air transport is still considered a luxury, or at the very least, an irrelevance.
Associations A4E and ACI Europe are therefore urging the French government to reconsider these plans, which do not appear to be based on a thorough analysis of the economic impact. Such a move would weaken the competitive position and attractiveness of France as a destination, with repercussions for the national economy and for its citizens. A heavier tax burden would also reduce the sector’s ability to finance an effective decarbonisation of aviation.
In an updated white paper on the future of French airports by 2030, the Union des Aéroports Français (UAF) highlights the necessity to make airports more competitive. The UAF points to a sharp rise in airport handling costs in recent years as a result of both the introduction of the solidarity tax on airline tickets (TSBA) and the sharp increase in the cost of financing airport safety and security.
In France all these costs are borne by the passenger through the airport safety and security tax (T2S).
In a highly competitive European context (particularly in southern Europe), the UAF estimates that it is essential to improve the competitiveness of French airports by reducing the tax burden on air transport and controlling safety and security costs. Just at the opposite of what the French government would like to do…